Matthew Tkachuk is not afraid to drop the gloves. But last week, he found himself watching from the sidelines during a now-famous goalie fight between Sergei Bobrovsky and Alex Nedeljkovic. Now, Tkachuk is sharing his thoughts on the unforgettable moment.
Fights between goaltenders are extremely rare in the NHL. Most of the time, officials step in and stop them before they can begin. But last week, during a matchup between the Florida Panthers and the San Jose Sharks, it actually happened — and everyone loved it.
READ MORE: Sergei Bobrovky and Alex Nedeljkovic in epic goalie fight
Matthew Tkachuk shares his view
The fight broke out in the third period when Sharks goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic went after the Panthers’ skaters. Sergei Bobrovsky then skated at full speed across the ice, dropped the gloves, and nodded toward Nedeljkovic, who answered the bell. The crowd, of course, loved every second of it. But the players were just as excited. On their Wingmen podcast, brothers Brady Tkachuk and older brother Matthew talked about the fight. Matthew gave insight into what it felt like to witness such an unusual moment.
”It was the loudest regular-season building I’ve ever been a part of. He sees Nedeljkovic throw a couple. He starts going down there — he’s going frigging fast — chucks off the gear and goes right at him. And right before he went at him, he gives him the ‘let’s go,’” Tkachuk recalled.
”It was nuclear”
“When they fought, I thought, ‘Okay, they’re getting kicked out.’ But the refs came up to us and said, ‘They can go back in the net.’ We had a power play — we weren’t going to a faceoff until Bobby was in that net because we wanted to hear the ovation. All the guys were lined up outside the door, the whole bench standing up knowing what was coming. When he hit the ice, it was just nuclear. It was all-time,” Matthew Tkachuk said.
You can watch the video below.
READ MORE: Alex Nedeljkovic’s perfect response to huge goalie fight
